Man Beats Friend to Death

Monday, July 24, 2017
Marlon Peters, 38-year-old employee of the Ministry of Works, was brutally beaten by his friend and co-worker on the evening of Friday, July 14th, 2017.
According to sources close to the family, Peters and his co-worker Errol Smith left work at 2:00pm and were socializing together but later that evening something went wrong and shortly before 5:00pm, the men got into an altercation.
A neighbor told the Belize Times that he saw Smith beating Peters repeatedly in front of his (Smith’s) home on Maxi Street in Santa Elena Town. According to the eyewitness report, Peters did not respond, even when beaten to the point that he lost consciousness.
“First I heard cursing up, and the boy Smith was cursing Marlon and then as Marlon get out of the vehicle the bway start to punch him in his face and beat him up and when Marlon drop, the bway continue kick him in his head. He didn’t want to stop, it looks like, and he just continue beat him more and kick him up,” the neighbor told us.
Peters was taken to the San Ignacio Community Hospital then later transported to the KHMH where he was in a coma and on Saturday morning at around 3:30 am, Peters succumbed to the injuries.
San Ignacio Police had initially detained Smith but later released him. On Monday, Deputy Officer Commanding San Ignacio Police, ASP Daniel Iche confirmed to the media that Smith was initially detained then released because Police did not receive an official statement from Peters:
Iche also informed the media that Smith handed himself over on Monday in the presence of his attorney. The post mortem examination was conducted on Monday and revealed that Peters died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
A close friend of Peters told us that he will be remembered as a very hardworking man: “He used to work at Ministry of Works and on Saturday, he and his wife and children I used to see them every Saturday dah market dih sell seaweed. He dah mih wah friendly person and always di work hard fuh his family. It very sad how this happen to him and now this family stay without him. He dah mi the main breadwinner for them, you know.”
Since the incident, Smith has been sharing his feelings of remorse on his social media page. On Saturday, when Peters passed, Smith posted “Dear Lord, forgive me please.” Smith also shared that it wasn’t his intention and he can’t eat, can’t sleep and can’t think since the incident occurred.
Iche told the media that the files have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions who will advise the police on how to proceed with the case.
On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 Police charged 29-year-old Errol Smith for the crime of Manslaughter.